This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it. 'Mmm... I love it, bro!': Performances of Masculinity in YouTube Gaming ABSRACT:Despite being ubiquitous and embedded in everyday life, 'the centrality of the Internet is still under-theorized in much masculinities research'. Contributing to the knowledge base in this area, here we place under the microscope the performance of hetero-masculinities undertaken by the three most popular YouTube gaming vloggers in 2015-2016: PewDiePie, VanossGaming and Sky Does Minecraft. The focus of this paper thus sits at the intersection of YouTube vlogging and gaming cultures, a site that is of particular sociological interest given the latter's associations with the (re)production and function of hegemonic masculinity.In examining the performances and constructions of gender by male gamers on YouTube, our research adds to the growing body of work highlighting the emergence of increasing levels of complexity in the construction of contemporary masculine identities.

Men's experiences with digital media and social networking sites remain relatively underexplored. Here, we analyse the complex ways that men construct, represent and perform masculinity on a men's body-positivity Tumblr blog called Body Positivity for Guys. Drawing on both hegemonic masculinity theory and inclusive masculinity theory' we contribute to current theoretical discussions within the academic literature on masculinities, while extending these prominent debates to new virtual environments. In particular, we find that the interactions of the men on the blog demonstrate a consistent eschewal of tactics of marginalisation and subordination that have long been the hallmark of research into relations of power within masculine hierarchies. Furthermore, we demonstrate how all of the diverse constructions of masculinities on the blog site held cultural legitimacy and were equally supported.

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